John Feehan, the chief executive of the British and Irish Lions, has defended the decision for the tourists to play at sea level in Cape Town less than four days before the series-defining second Test against the Springboks at altitude in Pretoria.

The Lions, who must win the final two Tests having lost 26-21 to South Africa in Durban last Saturday, have had their preparations for the match at Loftus Versfeld, which is 4,600 feet above sea level, disrupted by monsoon-like conditions in Cape Town this week.

Lions head coach Ian McGeechan described the stormy conditions in which his side drew 13-13 with the Emerging Springboks at Newlands on Tuesday night as "a million miles away" from what the tourists will face on Saturday.

Although Feehan's preferred schedule would have included a Test in Cape Town, he said that the plan to prepare at sea level up until the day before the second Test was based on advice from sports scientists. The Lions, who have been using specialist altitude masks in training this week, travel to Pretoria on Friday.

"All you can take is the best advice you can get and at the time we spoke to James Robson [the Lions doctor] about it and his advice was that it was manageable," Feehan said.

"There are two options. You can either stay a week [at high altitude] and get acclimatised or you leave it as short as you can. At least we have had a couple of weeks at high altitude to get used to it previously.

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"We did argue strongly for two Tests at sea level, but the issue really was about the capacity at Newlands and the willingness of season-ticket holders here to make space for Lions supporters. It just wouldn't work out."

As for playing the toughest non-Test opposition, the Emerging Springboks, in the week between the first and second Tests, Feehan said the fixture was crucial in keeping the entire tour party focused.

"Our goal was to get increasingly more difficult games during the tour and if you looked at the rankings two or three years ago, that's probably where everyone was," Feehan added.

"There is always a question as to whether you need a game between the first and second Test but you have a lot of players who if they are not in the Test side on the first weekend literally would be going on holiday for a couple of weeks so you need to keep them interested, training properly and concentrating."